Over the last year and a half, and due mostly in part to a terrible ending and aftermath to a long-term relationship, which really hit me hard, I have had numerous issues with anxiety. I may expand on my concerns in the future - but for now, I have a direct question: What exactly do anxiety medications make you feel? I am asking about the intangibles, things that doctors do not discuss nor do websites/advertisements and the like. For example, do you feel some sort of 'high' or euphoria, a sense of relaxation, an increased mood, focus or energy levels, etc?

This is something to discuss with a therapist/doctor, which I plan to do in the future. But in my experience, doctors do not bother with any nuances, and tend to prescribe the first thing they can think of, usually the most popular medication, without considering all the nuances. My major concerns are the side effects, especially weight gain and the sexual ones. I am not obese, but certainly have pounds to lose, part of my problems in the relationship and before were because of this. I have been having trouble with losing excessive weight as it is lately, so if it is a significant amount, I will prefer to have anxiety and just deal with it.

I have tried herbal remedies, and in the past they worked well. For example, once I took St. John's Wort, for several years. It worked great and I felt great on them. I've tried taking a high quality brand for some weeks, I feel nothing different. Same with Valerian, and other high quality brands of herbal remedies - it seems like nothing has an effect on me these days - this too is very frustrating. I have a small supply of ativan, which I use on occasion - but lately, it no longer gives me a relaxed and mellow feeling, more like a drowsy, almost knocking me out one. I am considering different options and approaches, and will be discussing with a therapist, I just wanted to get the real-life opinions of people who have had experiences with these kinds of medications, to get a more balanced view. Thank you!

Hi again. Well I have taken anti-depressants for many years since I have struggled with depression and chemical imbalance in my brain. It seems to help but when I got emotionally upset breaking up with someone recently it didn't seem to work at all. I am at a better place now since I have finally let the person go in my heart and mind. Anyway, I know that anxiety medicines can affect people in different ways since we are all different in how we react to medicines. I think many of them make you sleepy so then you are not anxious or fearful. I have never tried them and don't want to get used to them. I would rather use herbals or natural ways to get through the anxiety. I do think a good therapist would be able to help you and I wish you the very best. You sound like a very intelligent young man and you can hold down a job and perform at work so that is a very good thing. Do you have hobbies or interests you can look into?